Corrections

GothamGazette.com corrects factual errors or misleading information in our original content as soon as we learn about them. Major corrections are posted on this page. To correct an error, send an email with the subject "correction" to Gail Robison at grobinson@gothamgazette.com. Include the URL (that's the Web address starting with "www.gothamgazette.com") of the page that contains the error.

The Dec. 17, 2007 article, "The Big Stories That Did Not Happen in 2007," incorrectly stated that gridlock in Albany stalled legislation extending the program to provide tax breaks for construction of affordable housing in the city. That is incorrect. A revision and extension of the so-called 421-a program passed the legislature and was signed by Gov. Eliot Spitzer in August. This error also appeared in the Dec. 14 Wonkster posting, "Gridlock Alert." Both have been corrected.

The Housing Topic page for May 2007 (A New Program to Fight Homelessness) incorrectly reported that the new Work Advantage program does not provide help to families on public assistance. While Work Advantage will not assist all families on public assistance, it does provide subsidies to those on disability, with cases before the Administration for Children's Services or who need "one-shot" assistance to get back on their feet. The article also said that the commissioner of homeless services declined a request for an interview by writer Joe Lamport. The commissioner never explictly denied the reporter's request for an interview. Lamport did try to reach the commissioner but was unable to contact him.

Gotham Gazette has removed the name of the victim of a 2001 rape from its February 22, 2003 article Token Booth closings. We deleted the name at the request of the victim, who, although she had made her name public at the time, said its continued presence on our site presented a serious problem for her now.

Gotham Gazette made this change only after long and serious consideration. In our deliberations, we concluded that we would take this extraordinary step only because of the type and severity of the crime and because removing the woman's name would not undermine the article. As a matter of general policy, Gotham Gazette only changes material after it is posted to correct factual mistakes.

In our reporting on results of the Sept. 12 primary, we incorrectly listed results of some minor races, including district leaders, delegates to the judicial convention and state committee member. For corrected results, go to Election Results: Minor Races.

The article "State Races and Incumbency" dated August 21, 2006, omitted two of the open Assembly races. Assembly District 46 (South Brooklyn) is open, as longtime Assemblymember Adele Cohen is not seeking reelection. Alec Brooks-Krasny, Ari Kaga, and Martin Levine are running in the Democratic primary. The other open seat to watch is Assembly District 60 (Brooklyn/Staten Island). Joseph Cammarata vs. Anthony Xanthakis (Republican Primary). Incumbent Assemblymember Matthew Mirones is also not seeking reelection. Another contested seat of note is Senate District 18 (Mid Brooklyn) Tracy Boyland vs. Velmanette Montgomery (Democratic Party). Former City Council Member Boyland, of the well-known Brooklyn political family, is challenging longtime incumbent Montgomery.

The article also contained inaccurate information about Senator Martin Connor's clients as an election law specialist. He has not represented Republicans in a ballot access or recount case. In his career, he has served on the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and worked for Tom Golisano's 2002 gubernatorial campaign.

The Today's Report entry for March 22, 2006, incorrectly described some of the findings in the Community Service Society Report on the city job market. The report found that a smaller percentage of the city's working age population had a job in 2005 than in 2000. It did not conclude, as we stated, that a smaller percentage of the city's work force had a job in 2005 than in 2003.

The article "Without Insurance," dated December 5, 2005, incorrectly represented a report published by Bronx Health REACH. The article reported that Bronx Health REACH had documented public hospitals separating patients into different institutions according to insurance status. In fact, the group claims only that private hospitals do this.

A transcript of the City Council Speaker's forum, held on November 17, 2005, did not include Councilmember Lew Fidler's full response to a question. When Fidler was asked if he thought the commuter tax was a realistic way to balance the budget, he responded; "No, I don't think it's realistic. It should be." The original version of the transcript did not include the phrase "it should be."

The immigrants topic page for August, 2005, entitled "Campaign 2005: Much At Stake For Immigrants" contained inaccurate information about the number and performance of English Language Learners in the city public school system. It also omitted mention of relevant positions taken by Fernando Ferrer to address the dropout rate of these students.

The article 311's Growing Pains, dated July 25, 2005, gave insufficient details of the origins of a law that requires the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications to provide a monthly report online of complaints registered with 311, broken down by community boards. It was introduced by the City Council's Committee on Technology In Government, initially over the objection of the mayor.

The arts topic page of July, 2005, entitled Arts Funding 101, contained a sentence that could have misled readers into thinking that there is no difference in operation between the majority of non-profit cultural institutions and the 34 that are members of the Cultural Institutions Group, or CIG. This has been clarified - the CIGs have various special obligations depending on the institution (such as offering free admission for NYC school children) - and the comments of Cultural Institutions Group executive director Janet Schneider have been added.

An article on the City Council meeting of May 11, 2005 incorrectly reported that two bills regulating Internet Cafes were passed by the legislative body. The measures were withdrawn from the agenda at the last minute, amended, and passed at the next meeting of the council on May 25, 2005.

The article Non-Citizen Voting, first posted on April 25, 2005, mistakenly stated that non-citizens in San Francisco can vote in school-board elections if they have a child in the public school system. In Chicago this is true but not in San Francisco where a ballot measure to allow this failed in November of 2004 (51% to 49%)..

The article AIDS in New York City, first posted on March 28, 2005, mistakenly stated that the number of HIV infections in New York City rose between 2002 and 2003. They actually decreased, continuing a decline in new AIDS cases that began in New York in 1995.

In the waterfront topic page article of March, 2005, there was a misleading summary of Councilmember David Yassky's comments about the chances for affordable housing on the Williamsburg waterfront. Yassky believes the current proposal by Bloomberg is unlikely to produce much affordable housing, but that the community's expectations can indeed be met with a different plan.

In the article "Why Gerrymandering Must Go" (February 14, 2005), the author confused Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly, with Medicaid, a largely state-run health program for the poor and other needy people such as the disabled. The state's "800 pound gorilla" is Medicaid.

The Today's Lead for February 7, 2005 misspelled the name of Supreme Court Justice Doris Ling-Cohan, who ruled that a law denying gay couples the right to marry violates the New York State constitution. The article also incorrectly stated which judicial body will likely decide the gay marriage issue on appeal. It is the New York Court of Appeals, which is the highest court in the state.

The Civil Rights Topic Page article on the Death Penalty (January, 2005) gave an incorrect name for the executive director of New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty. His name is David Kaczynski, and he is the brother of Ted Kaczynski, the "Unabomber."

The Today's Lead for December 3rd, 2004 incorrectly spelled the name of President George Bush's nominee to head the Department of Homeland Security. It was former NYC Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik.

The Eye-Opener for November 17, 2004 erroneously reported details about changes in city policy toward the homeless. While the city does eventually plan to shut down and replace its Emergency Assistance Unit for homeless families in the Bronx, the unit remains open to process families that have been rejected for assistance and are applying again. Only families applying for shelter for the first time can go to the new temporary office a mile away. The move is part of the city's efforts to distinguish between first-time applicants and repeat applicants. Officials pledge to process new applicants for shelter more efficiently and respectfully, but say they will be tougher on families who have applied previously for housing and been rejected.

The quiz on Republicans in NYC incorrectly stated in question 6, choice D, that Nelson Rockefeller opposed an amendment denouncing the Ku Klux Klan, John Birch Society and Communist Party for trying to infiltrate the Republican Party. The correctly written choice would indicate that he supported such an amendment.

The article on cleaning up New York City streets incorrectly stated that, in the 19th century, 2.5 million tons of horse manure a day fell on city streets. That amount of manure was deposited on city streets in a year, not a day.

The article on the race for seat for the 80th Assembly district in the Bronx incorrectly said in the biography for Naomi Rivera that she has an accounting degree from Manhattan Community College. She attended the college but does not have a degree from it.

The article on the City Council meeting of April 21, 2004 incorrectly stated that the council approved the new leases for LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy airports. The council's action related only to the property on which the airports sit, not to the terms of the lease. Under the 1989 charter revision, the power over city-owned property is split between the council and the mayor. The council has land use authority, and the mayor controls the business terms of the lease.

The Gotham Gazette headline for an article in the
New York Post (posted March 25, 2004) incorrectly stated that the plan for a
Brooklyn basketball stadium may conflict with historic sites. The article
refers to the rezoning of the downtown Brooklyn, not the stadium, which are
separate projects.

The article Bloomberg Must Speak Up On Gay Marriage (first posted March 8, 2004)
incorrectly stated that Mayor Ed Koch issued an
executive order banning discrimination based on sexual orientation in 1986.
Koch issued an executive order banning discrimination in government in 1978.
The 1986 date relates to the passage of a law which the mayor initiated that
prohibited discrimination in the private sector on the basis of sexual
orientation. In a letter to Gotham Gazette, Koch wrote: "To persuade members
of the City Council to vote for the legislation, I assured them that if they
were attacked in the upcoming election for their favorable vote by their
opponent, I would support them regardless of their party affiliation and
whether or not I agreed with them on other issues. So far as I can recall,
not a single member was attacked for having voted for the legislation. On
the 10th anniversary of that law, a number of members who had voted against
it including the speaker at the time announced they regretted their negative
votes and would vote in favor of it were the vote taken now."

The article Thinking Big Again
(first posted on March 1, 2004) stated that the land where a proposed basketball arena would be built
is owned by the state, and therefore is not subject to the
city's land-use review process. In fact, much of the land in the plan is privately owned; the plan calls
for state condemnation of this land, thus making it no longer subject to the city's land-use review
process. It also incorrectly cited the cost of the plan to bury West Street, which is $900,000,000, not $900,000.

The presidential candidate urban issues grid (first posted February 23, 2004) incorrectly stated that the USA Patriot Act, which gives government and law enforcement officials broader use of surveillance in an effort to fight terrorism, also required visitors from certain countries to register with the Immigration and Naturalizations Service. Special registration requirements instituted after September 11, 2001 are not part of the USA Patriot Act.

The article on steam (first posted November
10, 2003) stated that the Con Edison plant on 14th
Street and the East River burns natural gas and air to
produce steam. This was misleading. That plant, and other plants in
the Con Edison steam system, burn fuel oil as well as the cleaner natural gas.

The article General Election Guide to the Last Minute Voter (first posted November 3, 2003) incorrectly stated that Robert Newman was campaigning against ballot question number 3. Newman was campaigning with a Working Families Party volunteer who was urging a "no" vote, but Newman says he was only talking with voters about his candidacy for Supreme Court in Brooklyn. As a judicial candidate, Newman was prohibited by law from making statements regarding public issues that he might rule on if elected. The article also stated that Newman was a member of the Working Families Party. Newman says he is a registered Democrat, but accepted the Working Families Party nomination for the 2003 election.

In the article on Nannies (first posted October 27, 2003), a failure on the part of the author to follow a fundamental principle of journalism -- getting both sides -- resulted in the publication of a statement that the Department of Consumer Affairs has not yet implemented a bill passed by the City Council requiring employment agencies to inform all domestic workers of their rights, and also requiring employers to sign a statement saying they understand the rules on minimum wage, overtime, and Social Security. The Department of Consumer Affairs disputes this assertion, which was made by Ai-Jen Poo, an organizer with Domestic Workers United, though presented in the article as if it were uncontested fact. Also in the article, Poo was incorrectly identified; she is not a lawyer.

In the article on the Manhattan Greenway, there was out-of-date information about the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. When it was opened in 1964, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world, a title it held for 17 years. With the construction of the England's Humber Bridge in 1981, it became the second longest. But longer suspension bridges were built elsewhere in the world in the 1990's.

The article A Brief History of Election Law in New York incorrectly stated that the city and state legislatures defeated a measure giving women the vote in 1915. The measure was defeated by city and state voters in a referendum. Women in New York were given the right to vote in 1917.

The article Compstatmania! incorrectly attributed a quote on introducing a Compstat type system for the public schools to Mayor Michael Bloomberg. It was Fernando Ferrer, former candidate for mayor and now president of the Drum Major Institute, who said, "Changing the behaviors and attitudes of the school system toward parents and community won't be as easy. That is why we proposed a Compstat-like mechanism for measuring the system's attempts to create meaningful relationships with parents and communities."

On Thursday, June 26, 2003, it was reported that the city would resume plastic recycling by July 1. The correct date is July 14.

On Wednesday, June 11, 2003, it was incorrectly reported that regional superintendents under Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Schools Commissioner Joel Klein's restructuring plan would earn $165,000,000 per year. The correct figure is $165,000.

The article School Buses Can Be Dangerous to Kids' Health, incorrectly quoted Connie Cullen, the spokesperson from the New York Power Authority, that " All New York City transit buses and sanitation trucks are already using the particulate filters and ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel." All the buses are using ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel but only some buses are using the particulate filters.

In the article Car-Free Parks, the name of the community board 14 chairman was misspelled. The correct spelling is Alvin Berk.

The article Critiquing The Mayor's Housing Plan incorrectly stated that the city planned to raise $500 million for the mayor's housing plan by auctioning off city owned land. The organization ACORN estimates that auctions would raise $5 to $10 million in the next fiscal year. The $500 million mentioned in the article would be raised through financing.

In the article Requiem For The INS, it is reported that the Immigration and Naturalization Service ceases to exist. The INS will merge into the Department of Home Land Security on March 1, 2003.

In the 2001 election coverage of City Council district 8, the official vote count for the primary election was incorrectly reported. The official results from the Board of Elections were 8,599 votes for Philip Reed and 7,553 for Felipe Luciano.

In the 311 Issue of the Week, the presidential commission that created 911 was reported incorrectly: 911 was created under Lyndon B. Johnson, not Gerald Ford.

In an interview with City Council Speaker Gifford Miller, it was reported that he said, "We made it easier for sites that are not zoned residential to be developed to create more housing." The council has not made such zoning changes, but hopes to in the future. Upon further review of the tape of the conversation, the speaker's exact statement is inaudible.

In the article Row Over Street Closure Downtown, the author reported that a public hearing on the closing of Park Row was called by City Council member Alan Gerson. The event was planned by Mr.Gerson and members of Community Board 3.

In the article The New Plans For Lower Manhattan, Beyer Blinder Belle, the firm which drew up the initial six plans, was incorrectly reported as one of the seven architectural teams drawing up the second set of plans. The actual seventh firm is Peterson Littenberg Architects.

The headline for Glenn Pasanen's December Finance article appeared incorrectly. The headline should have read The $1.7 Billion Tax Hike And Other "Budget Modifications".

In the Eye-Opener and Rebuilding Roundup sent out the morning of Friday, December 6, 2002, it was reported that Mayor Michael Bloomberg " will be presenting his own vision for lower Manhattan as part of a broader plan for the city on Tuesday, December 12." The correct date is Thursday, December 12.

In the story on day care, it was erroneously reported how many eligible working parents in New York City are waiting to get their children into day care. The most current figure is 47,000. In addition, the waiting list has not been cut from last year, but indeed has grown.